Beliefs about Alzheimer's disease in Britain

Hudson, John M.; Pollux, Petra M.J.; Mistry, B; Hobson, Sara

doi:10.1080/13607863.2012.660620

Cited by 40 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…While several studies have investigated knowledge of methods to reduce dementia risk, most have used prompted, closed questions [34,51,52] which may overestimate knowledge prevalence due to the possibility of correct guessing [53]. The unprompted knowledge question used here found that undertaking mentally stimulating activities was the most widely identified activity that a person could do to reduce dementia risk, which is consistent with the findings of several previous studies [35,36,52].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Public knowledge and beliefs about dementia risk reduction: a national survey of Australians

2014

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BackgroundWith the dramatically increasing contribution of Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia to the global burden of disease, countries are being urged to address this as a public health priority. This study investigated whether Australian adults recognise this as an important health issue, and hold beliefs and knowledge that are consistent with recommendations concerning dementia risk reduction. This research was undertaken to guide national brain health awareness and education strategies.MethodsA cross-sectional telephone survey was undertaken of 1,003 Australians aged 20–75 years. This measured the importance placed on dementia, beliefs and confidence related to risk reduction, knowledge of risk reduction methods, and the perceived age-relevance of these. In analysis the data were stratified by sex, age, educational attainment, household income, language preference and previous exposure to dementia. Multivariable logistic regression was undertaken to identify variables independently associated with beliefs and knowledge.ResultsPeople aged 60 years and over identified dementia as very important (17.2%) more often than those aged 40–59 years (5.1%) or 20–39 years (2.1%). While 41.5% of respondents believed the risk of dementia could be reduced, 26.9% were very confident that they could achieve this. Mental activity (57.1%) was identified as beneficial much more often than physical activity (31.3%), healthy eating (23.3%) and other cardiovascular health behaviours. Women, people of English-speaking origin, and those having contact with a person with dementia, showed better knowledge of several health behaviours.ConclusionsGrowing attention is being given to population risk reduction to combat the dramatic increase in the burden of disease due to dementia. In Australia many people do not yet hold beliefs and knowledge that support this, which highlights the need for concerted awareness raising that dementia is not an inevitable aspect of ageing, and for education about the role of vascular health in dementia risk reduction.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Public knowledge and beliefs about dementia risk reduction: a national survey of Australians

2014

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“…Factor analysis supported the use of a total score on the ADKS to reflect overall knowledge of AD. The ADKS has been employed by other researchers to examine accuracy of knowledge of AD (Hudson, Pollux, Mistry, & Hobson, 2012;Nordhus, Sivertsen, & Pallesen, 2012).…”

Section: Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing accuracy of knowledge of cognitive effects of normal ageing and mild stage of Alzheimer's disease

Bettens

Ownsworth

Hohaus

et al. 2013

Aging & Mental Health

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“…A recent review [7] of such tools concluded that while the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Test (ADKT) [17] was the oldest and most widely used, a more recent tool, the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) [18], was promising and showed good psychometric properties. Originally only used by its developers [19], two recently published articles have confirmed the utility of the ADKS in this context [20,21]. Assessing the level of dementia knowledge among health professionals is important to: assess the level of knowledge prior to the implementation of dementia knowledge programs as a baseline; identify the gaps in knowledge to be included in a program; and then to assess the effectiveness of a dementia knowledge education program [2,6,7,12,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey-based study of knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease among health care staff

et al. 2013

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BackgroundContinued aging of the population is expected to be accompanied by substantial increases in the number of people with dementia and in the number of health care staff required to care for them. Adequate knowledge about dementia among health care staff is important to the quality of care delivered to this vulnerable population. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge about dementia across a range of health care staff in a regional health service district.MethodsKnowledge levels were investigated via the validated 30-item Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS). All health service district staff with e-mail access were invited to participate in an online survey. Knowledge levels were compared across demographic categories, professional groups, and by whether the respondent had any professional or personal experience caring for someone with dementia. The effect of dementia-specific training or education on knowledge level was also evaluated.ResultsA diverse staff group (N = 360), in terms of age, professional group (nursing, medicine, allied health, support staff) and work setting from a regional health service in Queensland, Australia responded. Overall knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease was of a generally moderate level with significant differences being observed by professional group and whether the respondent had any professional or personal experience caring for someone with dementia. Knowledge was lower for some of the specific content domains of the ADKS, especially those that were more medically-oriented, such as ‘risk factors’ and ‘course of the disease.’ Knowledge was higher for those who had experienced dementia-specific training, such as attendance at a series of relevant workshops.ConclusionsSpecific deficits in dementia knowledge were identified among Australian health care staff, and the results suggest dementia-specific training might improve knowledge. As one piece of an overall plan to improve health care delivery to people with dementia, this research supports the role of introducing systematic dementia-specific education or training.

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Beliefs about Alzheimer's disease in Britain

Abstract: Respondents revealed knowledge gaps pertaining to conditions that masquerade as AD, increase ones vulnerability to AD, and exacerbate AD symtomatology. Educational campaigns that specifically target these issues may help reduce the impact of AD.

Cited by 40 publications

References 18 publications

Public knowledge and beliefs about dementia risk reduction: a national survey of Australians

Public knowledge and beliefs about dementia risk reduction: a national survey of Australians

Assessing accuracy of knowledge of cognitive effects of normal ageing and mild stage of Alzheimer's disease

A survey-based study of knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease among health care staff

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